Search Site   
Current News Stories
UK soil scientist honored for dedication to soil physics
Meat processing plants accused of illegally hiring children
Aggie’s judging contest draws students from three states
Tale of two Kansas museums
Equinox occurs on March 19
Unexpected cheese decline compared to production capacity
Marksmanship can be a fun sport for people of all abilities
Michigan soybean grower visits Dubai to showcase U.S. products
UK, MSU research looks at ways to better assess racetrack conditions
John Deere Club helps support future Deere workers
What do the horse industry and agriculture have in common?
   
News Articles
Search News  
   
Innovation nurses Tri-Ag to Innovation Award from IFCA
 


By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

PEORIA, Ill. — As agricultural retailers who rent sprayers and nurse equipment to farmers for use with herbicide and insecticide combinations, the staff at Tri-Ag in Emden understands the difficulty of identifying what was the last product used in their equipment in order to reduce the potential liability of crop damage.
Conveying that knowledge to everyone in the supply chain proved equally as vexing at times. But in a “Eureka!” moment, Tri-Ag applicator Rich Estes, load master Steve Leinenbach and company owner Don Batterton devised a color-coded identification system that is earning praise not only for its functionality but affordability.
The color-coding system developed at Tri-Ag was recognized by the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Assoc. (IFCA) during its annual convention and trade show in Peoria Jan. 20-22, earning the 2015 IFCA Ag Innovation Award.
“The system was needed for changing chemical applications according to different GMO crops, whether it’s dicamba beans or Roundup crops, or Liberty. We needed a way to differentiate,” said Leinenbach.
“If you put Liberty on a non-Liberty field, it will kill it. (And) 2,4-D is very similar – if you’re spraying it on beans that don’t have that trait, you’re going to kill that field very easily.”
The co-workers began by creating a color coding list that matched individual colors to crops and specific herbicides, Estes explained. “We used green for beans, yellow for corn and selective colors, some that rhyme, with different kinds of herbicides and insecticide combinations.
“The system was made just for our company to use. We have several tanks that farmers use, and now we can better keep them straight when they come back in,” he said.
Four-inch disks cut from plastic mini-bulk containers were first used as identification tags. Later, plastic from 2.5-gallon chemical jugs that were pre-colored replaced the 4-inch disks as markers. After drilling 1/2-inch holes near the edges of the discs, 3-inch carabiners (purchased by project sponsor Steve Sloan of Verdesian Life Services) were used to affix the disks to sprayers or nurse units.
The company then developed a specific communication system, assigning tasks and procedures to employees with instructions to not waver from the system. For example, only the load master or his assistant attaches a colored disk to a tank during the loading process at the plant. Likewise, only the load master may remove or replace the disks when cleaning and preparing for a new load.
The system offers its greatest functionality when spraying is disrupted by weather, illness or other events, according to Estes. For example, if someone was spraying pre-plant for corn and was disrupted by rain with 1,000 gallons of 28 percent and Harness Xtra in the tank, the load master and applicator would ensure the unit was tagged with yellow (for corn) and blue (for fertilizer) and add a purple tag indicating “partial load.”
“This helps a lot because sometimes you can forget what you sprayed the last time you were out,” Estes said.
“This is a simpler way than using duct tape or whatever kind of tape. It will also withstand more weather conditions,” Leinenbach added.
Jean Payne, president of IFCA, noted the innovation will not only help keep tank contents straight during peak application times when mistakes are more common, but also will assist those who are from the “old school” of applicators.
“As we get into the new era of having tank mix pesticides for weed resistance, there is a whole generation of spray operators out there that have only known to put one product in the tank, and it didn’t matter if it was corn or soybeans – glyphosate took care of everything. Now there are specialized corn and soybean mixtures and tanks need to be cleaned out,” Payne said.
At least two other ag supply retailers have asked to emulate Tri-Ag’s color coded system, according to Leinenbach.
Added Tri-Ag owner Batterton: “With the onset of dicamba and 2,4-D beans, we know that identifying and tagging equipment is going to be even more important.
Whatever system you choose to implement will work with proper guidance and support. We found this system to work best at Tri-Ag.”
1/29/2015